ESSAY ON REARING TURKEYS. 173 



for food, spread themselves at some distance apart, and thus 

 advance, devouring in their course every insect on which they 

 can fasten their bills. As accidents of various kinds may be- 

 fall the young chicks, it is well when two broods are hatched 

 at about the same time, to join them together, and to house 

 them with their mothers in the same coop at night. The old 

 ones will shortly associate together, taking equal care of the 

 members of the families thus united, and forming a double pro- 

 tection in times of danger. And if it be necessary to hunt them 

 up at evening, you will thus save many steps by making but 

 one journey for both flocks. If, however, they be fed regular- 

 ly at night, they will soon learn to come home of themselves. 



At six weeks or two months old, the young turkeys begin to 

 " shoot the red," as it is called, by which is simply meant that 

 the red granular excrescence on the head and neck, begins to 

 develope itself. This is a critical period in their existence. 

 If there be much wet weather, they will drop off in consider- 

 able numbers. It may safely be asserted, that from loss at this 

 time and before, not more than two thirds of the chicks that 

 are hatched, survive. But when they have shot the red, tur- 

 keys are thenceforward the hardiest of all poultry. They have 

 literally passed their climacteric, and food, food, and a plenty 

 of it, is now nearly all that they require. This they will ob- 

 tain, till it is time to fatten them, principally in the fields ; and 

 of course unless there is a sufficient range for them, they can- 

 not be reared to advantage. They may soon be made to roost 

 on a tree, provided with boards for them to go up into it. It 

 is safer, however, for them to make their first efforts at roost- 

 ing in a shed or barn, as they sometimes loose their hold of the 

 roost, before they have become accustomed to it, and if out of 

 doors may be picked up by some of those midnight prowlers 

 that infest farm premises. After they have become accustom- 

 ed to the tree on wdiich they roost, they will generally repair to 

 it every evening, seldom manifesting any desire for a change. 



They now range farther and farther, sometimes so as to be 

 mischievous to the grain fields and orchards of neighbors. To 

 check this rambling propensity, the old one may be fettered by 

 fastening her legs together with a piece of list a few inches in 



